The octuplets were conceived with the aid of fertility
medication. All weighed under two pounds at the time of
birth.[3]
The first born, Ebuka, was delivered on December 8, 15 weeks premature. The
remainder were born by Caesarean section on December 20, 13
weeks premature. The smallest of the octuplets, Odera, died on
December 27, a week after birth.

In 2002, Nkem Chukwu delivered a daughter named Divine Favour
this time without the help of fertility medication. She is called "Favour"
as Chukwu believed that God did her a favour by giving her back the
daughter she lost after the octuplets' births. Favour is usually
seen in public dressed like her siblings forming an 8-member
octuplet brood.

The children celebrated their 10th birthday in Houston on
December 20, 2008, in the company of volunteers who helped in their
early years. The five girls and two boys are reported to be
"normal, active and bright fourth-graders."[3]

Media
appearances

On January 27, 2009, Nkem Chukwu and her husband Iyke Louis
Udobi appeared for the first time in 10 years on national TV on
ABC's Good Morning America in a
pre-recorded segment where they commented on the birth of the new
Suleman
octuplets. The next day, January 28, 2009, the whole family
along with grandmother Janet Chukwu appeared on NBC's The Today
Show[4]
which was the first time the octuplets appeared on national
television since their first birthdays. Later that day they were
whisked to the Associated Press (AP) World
Headquarters for a TV interview for the world newswires. The
Chukwus' Toronto based publicist at the time Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo,
who has also known the family since the children were born, stated
that Nkem Chukwu went through a marathon of interviews in the wake
of Nadya Suleman's delivery of octuplets on January 26, 2009. BBC, Sky News, Fox News, CNN Radio, as well as Fox News Radio,
Local Bellflower, and California media outlets all bombarded her
with interview requests asking what tips she had for the new mother
and how she has managed to raise hers for 10 years successfully. On
Monday February 2, they also appeared on the Larry King
Live show in a segment titled "Octuplet Outrage" focusing
on the worldwide coverage generated by Nadya Suleman's 14 children,
and the ethical and medical controversy.[5]
On February 9, 2009, Nkem and Iyke Chukwu appeared on Radio One's
talk show The Mo'Nique
show.[6]
They also appeared Sunday February 15, 2009 on a local TV segment
on KHOU-TV, Houston, Texas on a family update.[7]
They also appeared on CNN's AC360 on February 18 2009. Nkem Chukwu
addressed the issue of the Nadya Suleman controversy with Randi
Kaye of CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 show on February 18, 2009. [8]

On February 2, 2009, then Publicist Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo
released a statement on Nkem Chukwu's behalf. The statement
read:

"In light of the Bellflower mom, Nadya Suleman's story, I spoke
on The Today Show[4]
that the upcoming Chukwu octuplets' world tour will be promoting
healthy families. For a mother of octuplets, the focus should now
be on the care of the new babies so as to raise them in a healthy
environment physically, psychologically, mentally and emotionally.
There has been too much speculation on the internet however
everyone is entitled to their opinion. We would not be here without
our army of volunteers. They remain in our prayers in getting a
support system for building a healthy family.[4]

When asked, her husband Iyke Louis Udobi stated in their recent
AP interview that "if you can take care of one, you can take care
of eight".[9]

World
tour

The Chukwu octuplets will be embarking on a world tour themed
"Promoting Healthy Families." The tour begins Summer of 2009 after
the octuplet kids take their summer break. They plan to visit TV talk
shows and health clinics; their mother Nkem plans to visit prenatal
and postnatal clinics as a speaker; the children plan to
visit summer camps and hold supermarket tour
seminars on how to shop groceries for large families. The tour will
extend into the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and the parents' native Nigeria. They are currently
seeking sponsors through their marketing team and
planning to make the world a healthy place to be. They plan to wrap
up the tour with a visit to Buckingham Palace and The White House sometime in 2009. Nkem
Chukwu elaborated on NBC's The Today Show on January 28 2009
on the need to bring up healthy families even during a
recession.[4]
Meanwhile Nkem Chukwu continues to educate families with health
tips, news of the day, quotes and other multiple family news. [10
]. On March 18 2009, in their latest interview
with the Daily Sentinel in Nacogdoches, Texas, Octuplet father Iyke
Louis and his wife said that they never thought they would have so
many children, but that God brought them the gift, and now they are
looking to share it with the world. Several projects are in the
works for the Chukwus, including a book, magazine deals and even a
possible documentary. But as of yet, nothing is finalized. [11
].